Trump Order Will Force Transgender Women to Be Housed in Men’s Prisons…and Other News on Solitary Confinement This Week
Seven Days in Solitary for the Week Ending 1/29/25
This week’s pick of news and commentary about solitary confinement:
On his first day in office, President Trump signed an executive order that mandated transgender women incarcerated in federal prisons be housed in men’s facilities, and also suspended their gender-transitioning-related medical treatment. The executive order, which more broadly aims to reduce the government’s recognition of a person’s gender to their assigned sex at birth, also applies to individuals detained in federal ICE facilities but does not appear to apply to transgender men housed in federal men’s facilities. According to federal data, transgender people are 10 times more likely to report being sexually victimized than other incarcerated individuals. A report also shows that incarcerated transgender people are more likely to be placed in solitary confinement than other incarcerated individuals, which prisons often claim is for their protection. New York Times | Lawyers at the Prison Law Office, a nonprofit law firm focused on constitutional protections for transgender people, were notified that several incarcerated transgender people in federal women’s facilities were placed in solitary confinement and told they would be moved to a federal men’s prison. Maria Moe, one of the transgender women who was isolated in solitary confinement, sued the Trump administration stating that the executive order put her safety at risk and violated the protections granted to her by the Fifth and Eighth Amendments. Her lawsuit is the first known legal challenge to the executive order. Huffington Post
The Nebraska Legislature’s Judiciary Committee heard the proposal for Legislative Bill 99, which would, among other measures, restrict the use of solitary confinement to no more than 15 consecutive days. State Senator Ashlei Spivey, who introduced the bill, said the practice aggravates existing mental health struggles and offers no evidence that it improves safety, adequately rehabilitates, or prepares individuals for a smooth integration back into society. Unicameral Update | Jason Witmer, a Nebraska native who spent years isolated in solitary confinement and testified in front of the Judiciary Committee in support of the bill, noted the practice’s crippling effects on people’s physical and mental well-being. “The act of isolation is an act of violence,” Witmer said. “It certainly doesn’t help people adjust to the free world.” Nebraska Examiner
Two Tennessee mothers are asking lawmakers for more oversight in juvenile detention centers after their sons were isolated in prolonged solitary confinement while at the Richard L. Bean Juvenile Service Center. A 2023 investigation by WPLN and ProPublica found the juvenile detention center was illegally punishing children with solitary confinement. Their sons, who were 15 and 16 while at the facility, were placed in solitary after allegedly being bribed by guards to fight other children and falling behind in their school work. “I’m angry that children are taken out of homes and put in there where they’re supposed to be okay. And they’re abused and they failed them. They completely failed them,” said one of the children’s mothers. WPLN
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) accused the private prison company GEO Group of punishing detained immigrants who protested labor conditions at a detention center in Bakersfield, California. According to the complaint, GEO Group placed detainees in solitary confinement, revoked their commissary privileges and filed disciplinary action forms after they signed a petition and partook in a labor stoppage. In an email, GEO Group spokesperson Christopher Ferreira said the company “strongly disagrees with and disputes the allegations.” Ferreira went on to argue that, under federal law, the detained immigrants could not be regarded as employees and the alleged violations did not apply because the labor was executed on a “strictly voluntary” basis. LA Times | On Monday, President Trump fired NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, a Biden appointee known for supporting worker rights, who issued the complaint against the GEO Group. Salon
New York Lawmakers are proposing several prison reforms after 43-year-old Robert Brooks was severely beaten by corrections officers while handcuffed to a hospital bed and later died at Marcy Correctional Facility. Among other measures, the proposed bills would significantly alter prison oversight and operations by establishing an independent organization to investigate incidents and allowing the state prison commissioner to directly fire officers. According to a 2023 report by the Correctional Association of New York, a state prison watchdog group, around 80% of people incarcerated at Marcy Correctional Facility said they had witnessed assault or abuse from prison staff and others reported that the facility was not adhering to state requirements for solitary confinement. WAMC
Action Alerts for the week:
The documentary film The Strike will air nationwide on PBS’s “Independent Lens” on Monday, February 3, at 10 p.m. EST. The Film will also be available for streaming on PBS Independent Lens, PBS YouTube, and PBS Passport through the end of April. The Strike details how the 2013 hunger strike against solitary confinement at Pelican Bay State Prison grew into a state-wide protest across California prisons. WOUB | The National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) has produced a film viewing and discussion guide, available here. NRCAT is encouraging faith communities to host watch parties, and groups can apply for $250 mini-grants to cover planning and hosting expenses here. For more information, contact Laura Markle Downton at NRCAT.
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